PART V. SELECT CHARTERS AND EXCERPTS; Richard and John. A.D. 1189-1199. RICHARD I. Archbishops of Canterbury. Baldwin, 1185-1190; Reginald Fitz Jocelin, 1191; Hubert Walter, 1193-1205. Chief Justices. Hugh Bishop of Durham and William Earl of Essex, 1189; Hugh Bishop of Durham and William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, 1190; William Longchamp alone, 1190; Walter of Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen, 1191-1193; Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1194-1198; Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex, 1198 1199. Chancellors. William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, 1189-1197; Eustace Bishop of Ely, 1197-1199. ALTHOUGH Richard had not been fully acknowledged by Henry II as his successor until a few days before his death, and had never been formally received as such by the English baronage, he succeeded without any difficulty in obtaining recognition, and having bound himself by the usual oaths, was anointed and crowned. After the coronation (Sept. 3) he stayed a few months in England, and only once again visited the country, in 1194, after his release from captivity, when he stayed from March 13 to May 12. On both these occasions his chief employment was the raising of money by the sale of public offices, the arranging of quarrels among the barons and clergy, and the securing of his own position against the machinations of John and Philip of France. The kingdom was administered during his absence by four successive justiciars, whose action, except so far as it was affected by the king's constant demands for money, was that of independent sovereigns. Under these the constitutional arrangements organised by Henry II worked with few impediments, and the reign is accordingly a period, internally, of quiet growth. The first of these ministers, William Longchamp, was a faithful servant of Richard, but anti-English and unpopular with the baronage. His attempts to assert the royal rights and jurisdiction by taking possession of the castles and enforcing his own supremacy, raised up a strong party against him, at the head of which was Earl John, for whom Richard had provided in a most lavish manner, and who, after Philip's return from the Crusade, acted in concert with him. A short struggle followed, in which John gained the advantage, and William Longchamp was deposed from the justiciarship by the assembled baronage under the direction of the Archbishop of Rouen who had himself been authorised by Richard to attempt the settlement of the country. The Archbishop of Rouen succeeded as justiciar, and held the office until a few months before Richard's return from captivity. His period of rule is characterised chiefly by the attempts made by John to supplant his brother, and by the measures taken for raising the king's ransom. The constitutional history of England receives little illustration from either of these periods. Archbishop Hubert, however, who succeeded to the justiciarship in 1194, and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, who followed him in 1198, were both able administrators, and attempted to unite faithful service of the king with the maintenance and the development in all respects of his father's system. The principle of raising money by the use and amplification of judicial machinery was carried by these ministers into new directions; larger charters were granted to the towns, and larger powers to the itinerant judges, whilst at the same time the progress of the country towards self-government was marked by the introduction of the elective principle into the county court and the employment of the jury in the assessment of property. It would appear from the historians that although very large sums of money were exacted by these means, some form of constitutional process in the granting of taxes was maintained, and that although the people complained loudly of the imposts, they were well able to bear them. Neither Hubert nor Geoffrey was a popular minister, but neither can be accused of betraying the interests of the country, and each exercised a good deal of repressive influence on Richard, as they did also on his successor. EXCERPTS. A.D. 1189. BENED. ABB. ii. 78. Deinde Ricardus dux Normanniae venit Lundonias, et congregatis ibi archiepiscopis et episcopis, comitibus et baronibus et copiosa militum multitudine, IIItio nonas Septembris die Dominica consecratus et coronatus est in regem Angliae Ib. p. 81. Cum vero perventum esset ad altare, coram archiepiscopis et episcopis, abbatibus, comitibus, baronibus, clero et populo, haec tria fecit Ricardus dux sacramenta. Juravit itaque et vovit coram positis sacrosanctis Evangeliis et plurimorum Sanctorum reliquiis, quod pacem et honorem et reverentiam omnibus diebus vitae suae portabit Deo et Sanctae Ecclesiae et ejus ordinatis. Deinde juravit quod rectam justitiam exercebit in populo sibi commisso. Deinde juravit quod leges malas et consuetudines perversas, si aliquae sunt in regno suo, delebit et bonas custodiet. Ib. p. 85. Deinde dominus rex Ricardus venit ad abbatiam quae dicitur Pipewella. . . in crastino exaltationis Sanctae Crucis. Ib. p. 87. In eodem concilio Ricardus rex constituit Dunelmensem episcopum et Willelmum de Mandavilla comitem Albamarliae justitiarios Angliae, quia Ranulfus de Glanvil jam senio et labore confectus, qui justitiarius Angliae tempore regis Henrici exstiterat, quaesivit a rege Ricardo licentiam eundi Jerosolimam et accepit. Ib. p. 90. Et eodem mense Ricardus rex deposuit a bailliis suis Ranulfum de Glanvilla justitiarium Angliae et fere omnes vicecomites et ballivos eorum; et omnes redemit usque ad ultimum quadrantem; et quanto familiariores patri suo exstiterant, tanto eos plus opprimebat. Qui autem non habebat quantum ab eo exigebatur, statim capiebatur et in carcerem mittebatur ubi erat fletus et stridor dentium, et alios vicecomites in loco depositorum instituit. Et omnia erant ei venalia, scilicet potestates, dominationes, comitatus, vicecomitatus, castella, villae, praedia, et cetera iis similia. . . . Praeterea idem Hugo Dunelmensis episcopus dedit regi mille marcas argenti, ut esset justitiarius in Anglia, et ut ab itinere Jerosolimitano remaneret. Et ceteri ... quicunque volebant, emebant a rege tam sua quam aliena jura. Unde factum est quod rex infinitam adquisivit pecuniam, quan tam nullus antecessorum suorum habuisse dinoscitur. RIC. DIVISIENSIS, p. 9. Willelmus Eliensis electus, datis tribus millibus libris argenti, sigillum regis sibi retinuit, licet Reginaldus Italus quartum millerium superobtulerit. A.D. 1191. BENED. ABB. ii. 213. Placuit ergo Johanni fratri regis et omnibus episcopis et comitibus ac baronibus et civibus Lundoniarum, quod cancellarius ille deponeretur a regimine regni; et quod loco illius fungeretur Rothomagensis archiepiscopus, sicut rex in litteris suis mandavit. Ita factum est ad securitatem regni. Johannes comes frater regis, et archiepiscopus Rothomagensis et omnes episcopi, comites et barones regni qui aderant, concesserunt civibus Lundoniarum communam suam et juraverunt quod ipsi eam et dignitates civitatis Lundoniarum custodirent illibatas quam diu regi placuerit. RIC. DIVIS. p. 53. Concessa est ipsa die et instituta communia Londoniensium, in qua universi regni magnates et ipsi etiam ipsius provinciae episcopi jurare coguntur. Nunc primum in indulta sibi conjuratione regno regem deesse cognovit Londonia, quam nec rex ipse Ricardus, nec praedecessor et pater ejus Henricus, pro mille millibus marcis argenti permisisset. Quanta quippe mala ex conjuratione proveniant ex ipsa poterit diffinitione perpendi, quae talis est, 'Communia est tumor plebis, timor regni, tepor sacerdotii.' A.D. 1193. ROG. HOVEDEN, iii. 210. Auctoritate igitur litterarum istarum (sc. regis de redemptione sua tractantis) mater regis et justitiarii Angliae statuerunt quod universi, tam clerici quam laici, quartam partem redditus sui de hoc anno darent ad redemptionem domini regis, et tantum superadderent de mobilibus suis, unde rex deberet eis grates scire: et de unoquoque feodo militis viginti solidos, et de abbatiis ordinis Cisterciensis et de domibus ordinis de Semplingham, totam lanam suam de hoc anno ; et universum aurum et argentum ecclesiarum, sicut rex in mandato suo praeceperat. Ib. p. 202. Ricardus rex Angliae in captione Henrici Romanorum imperatoris detentus, ut captionem illam evaderet, consilio Alienor matris suae, deposuit se de regno Angliae et tradidit illud imperatori sicut universorum domino, et investivit eum inde per pilleum suum: sed imperator sicut praelocutum fuit, statim reddidit ei, in conspectu magnatum Alemanniae et Angliae, regnum Angliae praedictum, tenendum de ipso pro quinque millibus librarum sterlingorum singulis annis de tributo solvendis, et investivit eum inde imperator per duplicem crucem de auro. Sed idem imperator in morte sua de omnibus his et aliis conventionibus quietum clamavit ipsum Ricardum regem Angliae et haeredes suos. A.D. 1194. Ib. p. 336. Et statim (sc. Feb: 10) per commune consilium regni definitum est quod comes Johannes dissaisiaretur de omnibus tenementis suis in Anglia, et ut castella sua obsiderentur. Ib. p. 240. Tricesima die mensis Martii, feria quarta, Ricardus rex Angliae celebravit primum concilii sui diem apud Notingham; cui interfuerunt Alienor regina mater ejus, et Hubertus Cantuariensis archiepiscopus qui in dextris regis sedebat in concilio illo, et Gaufridus Eboracensis archiepiscopus, qui a sinistris ejus sedebat, et Hugo Dunelmensis et Hugo Lincolniensis et Willelmus Eliensis regis cancellarius et Willelmus Herefordensis et Henricus Wigornensis et Henricus Exoniensis et Johannes Candidae Casae, episcopi; et comes David frater regis Scotiae et Hamelinus comes de Warenna, et Ranulfus comes Cestriae et Willelmus comes de Ferreres et Willelmus comes de Salesbiria et Rogerus Bigot. Eodem die rex dissaisivit Gyrardum de Camvilla de castello et vicecomitatu Lincolniensi, et Hugonem Bardolf de vicecomitatu Eboraci sirae et de castello Eboraci et de castello de Scardheburg, et de custodia de Westmerilande; et omnia supradicta exposuit venditioni. Unde factum est, quod cum cancellarius conventionasset se daturum regi pro vicecomitatu Eboraci sirae et pro vicecomitatu Lincolniensi et pro vicecomitatu Nordhamtesirae mille et quingentas marcas in principio conventionis, et singulis annis de unoquoque praedictorum comitatuum centum marcas de incremento; Gaufridus Eboracensis archiepiscopus obtulit regi tria millia marcarum pro vicecomitatu Eboracensi, et singulis annis centum marcas de incremento; et sic abjecto cancellario, Eboracensis archiepiscopus obtinuit vicecomitatum Eboracensem et ita factus est regis serviens et praecipitavit se in potentias regias. Tricesima prima die mensis Martii, scilicet pridie kalendas Aprilis, rex Angliae celebravit secundum diem concilii sui; in quo ipse petiit sibi fieri judicium de comite Johanne fratre suo, qui contra fidelitatem quam ei juraverat, castella sua occupaverat et terras suas transmarinas et cismarinas destruxerat, et foedus cum inimico suo rege Franciae contra eum inierat. Similiter et de Hugone de Nunant, Coventrensi episcopo sibi fieri judicium postulavit, qui secreti sui conscius eum reliquerat, et regi |